Spa and Ring trip report
23 November 2007, 07:18 AM
#1
Scooby Regular
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 8,425
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Spa and Ring trip report
Other than a fleeting visit a few years ago Gary had not visited Spa before. So when the offer came up for him to visit their with circuit days he jumped at the chance.
Saturday
A reasonable start to the day saw Gary on his way to his brothers at 7.15am. From there it was into the ‘taxi’ and the short hop to Dover where everyone was meeting up.
Gary Darren and Kevin (the instructor) had an uneventful run to Spa. Kevin proved to be a wealth of knowledge. Gary gathered loads of information that will hold him in good stead in the future. For example : Kevin pointed at the sunroof and a straight line pointing out of the front window. ‘’As long as that is pointing forward you are ok’’
Arriving at Spa there was time to throw the bags in the rooms before meeting at the bar for a beer or 10. A meal and few more beers in the pretty town of Francorchamps and Gary retired to his room around 3am
.
Garlic bread with fish anyone
Sunday
Up with the crack of sparrows 6.30am Gary was not feeling at his best. The only saving grace was the fact that he didn’t bother collecting the 205 from the ring and therefore wasn’t driving.
Up to the circuit and Gary went out on the early sighting lap to see what the conditions were like. With temperatures down to around -6 degrees overnight parts of the track were covered in ice. A temporary speed restriction was decided in those areas, the drivers were briefed and off they went.
There were some real contrasts in the cars, their styles and the power on tap.
Gary took a few snaps and briefed a few of the late comers before heading out in the mighty Mi to take a few pictures of his own. The bright conditions made for some reasonable pictures which he was pretty happy with.
After lunch he met up with Chrissie from extreme sport photography who showed him the way to Au rouge to take a few more pics.
Russ and Steve both took Gary for a few pax laps. Both cars performed very well as always
Loads of the usual suspects were in attendance. Bren, Ron S, Steve G, Russ, Sunni, Paul and James in the 968, the mighty 309 (crossle), Andrew in the GT, Ed and loads of others.
At the end of the day after the gear had been packed up and the blown skyline owners packed off the airport it was time to make the hop to Adenau and the Blaue Ecke. On the way Gary and Darren went to visit the new Kesselaar household. Karl was busy cooking as usual
A quick guided tour and beer later they went to the Blaue Ecke to drop their bags off before heading to the comfy corner to meet up with some of the others for a meal. Jorg looked after everyone well as always. Agtlaw was there too. A beer at the Blaue Ecke and Gary retired around midnight.
Monday
Up at 6.30am Gary and Darren nipped to the garage to wash the cars on the way to the ring car park. The roads were wet but there was no frost, things were looking good. Up at the track the guys were getting ready to give the drivers briefing when the worst happened. It started to snow. Within 10mins the car park was covered and the track was white. Things went from good to bad very quickly. Gary was asked if he would do a sighting lap to see what the condition was like round the track. Bren came along for the ride.
So to set the scene they had full permission of the officials to do a lap, there would be no other vehicles out and there was snow…. :whistle:
It soon became apparent that under the snow in places was ice, it made for a tricky drive, the steering wheel and tyres didn’t appear to be attached to each other.
Adenau was quite clear as usual.
They stopped again at the top of Kesselchen where the weather was beginning to take a turn for the worse. It was too much to resist. Bren drove while Gary took a few snaps
Hohe acht was pretty hard to get too due to the snow.
A couple of other stops and they went back to the car park
A couple of hours later the decision was made to cancel the day. The track was still covered with snow and ice in sections.
Down to Adenau for a huuuuuuge pizza
Saturday
A reasonable start to the day saw Gary on his way to his brothers at 7.15am. From there it was into the ‘taxi’ and the short hop to Dover where everyone was meeting up.
Gary Darren and Kevin (the instructor) had an uneventful run to Spa. Kevin proved to be a wealth of knowledge. Gary gathered loads of information that will hold him in good stead in the future. For example : Kevin pointed at the sunroof and a straight line pointing out of the front window. ‘’As long as that is pointing forward you are ok’’
Arriving at Spa there was time to throw the bags in the rooms before meeting at the bar for a beer or 10. A meal and few more beers in the pretty town of Francorchamps and Gary retired to his room around 3am
.
Garlic bread with fish anyone
Sunday
Up with the crack of sparrows 6.30am Gary was not feeling at his best. The only saving grace was the fact that he didn’t bother collecting the 205 from the ring and therefore wasn’t driving.
Up to the circuit and Gary went out on the early sighting lap to see what the conditions were like. With temperatures down to around -6 degrees overnight parts of the track were covered in ice. A temporary speed restriction was decided in those areas, the drivers were briefed and off they went.
There were some real contrasts in the cars, their styles and the power on tap.
Gary took a few snaps and briefed a few of the late comers before heading out in the mighty Mi to take a few pictures of his own. The bright conditions made for some reasonable pictures which he was pretty happy with.
After lunch he met up with Chrissie from extreme sport photography who showed him the way to Au rouge to take a few more pics.
Russ and Steve both took Gary for a few pax laps. Both cars performed very well as always
Loads of the usual suspects were in attendance. Bren, Ron S, Steve G, Russ, Sunni, Paul and James in the 968, the mighty 309 (crossle), Andrew in the GT, Ed and loads of others.
At the end of the day after the gear had been packed up and the blown skyline owners packed off the airport it was time to make the hop to Adenau and the Blaue Ecke. On the way Gary and Darren went to visit the new Kesselaar household. Karl was busy cooking as usual
A quick guided tour and beer later they went to the Blaue Ecke to drop their bags off before heading to the comfy corner to meet up with some of the others for a meal. Jorg looked after everyone well as always. Agtlaw was there too. A beer at the Blaue Ecke and Gary retired around midnight.
Monday
Up at 6.30am Gary and Darren nipped to the garage to wash the cars on the way to the ring car park. The roads were wet but there was no frost, things were looking good. Up at the track the guys were getting ready to give the drivers briefing when the worst happened. It started to snow. Within 10mins the car park was covered and the track was white. Things went from good to bad very quickly. Gary was asked if he would do a sighting lap to see what the condition was like round the track. Bren came along for the ride.
So to set the scene they had full permission of the officials to do a lap, there would be no other vehicles out and there was snow…. :whistle:
It soon became apparent that under the snow in places was ice, it made for a tricky drive, the steering wheel and tyres didn’t appear to be attached to each other.
Adenau was quite clear as usual.
They stopped again at the top of Kesselchen where the weather was beginning to take a turn for the worse. It was too much to resist. Bren drove while Gary took a few snaps
Hohe acht was pretty hard to get too due to the snow.
A couple of other stops and they went back to the car park
A couple of hours later the decision was made to cancel the day. The track was still covered with snow and ice in sections.
Down to Adenau for a huuuuuuge pizza
23 November 2007, 07:19 AM
#2
Scooby Regular
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 8,425
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Gary, Russ and Sunni went to find a bit of tarmac to play on
Then they went to the museum
They enjoyed that too. The lady who took this picture thought they were mad funnily enough
Favourite picture of the trip
Back to Adenau to load the 205 off before going to the PK for a meal. As usual this seemed to happen
In the morning Darren, Kev, Gary and Micheala from the Blaue Ecke drove back to the ferry and the return trip to England.
So one more lap to add to the year counter, but one Gary will probably never repeat. Great fun at Spa and all round great company. A great trip.
Then they went to the museum
They enjoyed that too. The lady who took this picture thought they were mad funnily enough
Favourite picture of the trip
Back to Adenau to load the 205 off before going to the PK for a meal. As usual this seemed to happen
In the morning Darren, Kev, Gary and Micheala from the Blaue Ecke drove back to the ferry and the return trip to England.
So one more lap to add to the year counter, but one Gary will probably never repeat. Great fun at Spa and all round great company. A great trip.
23 November 2007, 08:15 AM
#4
Scooby Regular
You just rubbing our noses in it now
We had zero tracktime at the Ring all weekend, but I enjoyed Spa a lot (as a passenger only) so will need to go back there.
We had zero tracktime at the Ring all weekend, but I enjoyed Spa a lot (as a passenger only) so will need to go back there.
24 November 2007, 12:53 PM
#5
Scooby Regular
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 8,425
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
